To facilitate the parking of a motor vehicle, in some conventional services, the driver drops off his/her vehicle in a transfer zone and transfers it to a parking facility operator. The parking facility operator then ensures that the vehicle is parked in a free parking space and later, at the request of the driver, is provided again for pick-up.
A corresponding service, which is also referred to as valet parking, is offered by good hotels and restaurants, for example, and in connection with attended parking facilities. In general, the driver transfers his/her vehicle to a parking facility employee who thereupon drives the vehicle to a free parking space and later also provides the vehicle again at a pick-up location.
In the related art, vehicles are equipped with autonomous or semi-autonomous parking assistance systems. It is possible to grant the parking facility operator access to the autonomous parking assistance systems from outside the vehicle, so that the vehicle moves independently in the parking facility and is autonomously parked in a free parking space.
In all cases, the problem that arises is that accidents may occur during the operation of motor vehicles, during which a vehicle is damaged. It is of interest for the operator of a parking facility to be able to check whether damage to a vehicle occurred during the stay at the parking facility or was already present before.
A traffic facility including a driving area which is autonomously negotiable by a vehicle is described in German Patent Application No. DE 10 2012 017 497 B3. It is provided that the vehicle is detected with the aid of a camera or another sensor system before the vehicle enters the driving area, and that a model of the vehicle skin is created. The data may be forwarded to the driver via a communication unit on a mobile terminal, for example a smart phone, so that the driver is informed about the condition of his/her vehicle.
A method for autonomously parking a vehicle in a parking area is described in German Patent Application No. DE 10 2012 015 968 A1. The vehicles are controlled and monitored by an external control unit. Sensors of the controlled vehicle are used to detect an impending collision or a collision which has already taken place, a decision being made as a function of the situation. When an impending collision is detected, measures for avoiding the collision are taken. If a collision has already taken place, measures for documentation and information are initiated.
A disadvantage of the monitoring methods in the related art is that these are only able to supply a snapshot of the condition of the vehicle.